Gallstones

http://newstartclub.com/question/803

Q. What can prevent gallstones and pain in the gallbladder?

A.

There are 2 types of gallstones: cholesterol and pigment.

Your gallbladder is a storage bag for bile, which normally contains enough chemicals to dissolve cholesterol excreted by the liver. But if your liver is excreting more cholesterol than your bile can dissolve, the excess cholesterol may form into crystals and eventually into cholesterol stones.

The best way to avoid cholesterol stones from forming and the associated pain or spasms is to avoid ingesting cholesterol! High-cholesterol, high-fat diets, the typical meat-based diets are implicated in the formation of cholesterol gallstones. The consumption of meaty diets, compared to vegetarian diets, has been shown to nearly double the risk of gallstones in women.

I had to have my gallbladder removed about a year ago due to excruciating pain over a number of years and although it helped, I still experience quite a bit of pain. Although I had been eating a plant based diet consistently for a couple years I still had a number of cholesterol stones and was told my gallbladder was functioning at about 14%. Even reducing oil/fat intake, juicing and trying an elimination diet was not revealing. I have had multiple tests by multiple specialists (pre and post surgery) but nothing else has been found. Could my body still be over producing cholesterol, or… anything?

Trudie Loo, MSN,NP, is a registered nurse with over 10 years of clinical nursing experience and has a passion for health promotion and disease prevention via intentional lifestyle change. A graduate of Loma Linda University, Trudie spent four years in China providing quality improvement and health education. Her stateside experience includes adult oncology and stroke care. She also holds certifications in acute care nursing, lifestyle education, hydrotherapy and massage, and public health nursing.